History of the flag

The 'Nyländsk Jaktklub', formed in 1861, got a flag
of a blue St. George's cross on a white field, with the crowned arms of the province
of Nyland within two crossed branches (oak?) in the upper hoist quarter. The flag
was modeled on the flag of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, and had the naval colours
of the Russian (the flag was a sign of loyalty to the emperor).

In May 1918 a decision was made on a flag of independent
Finland. The flag adopted, was very much like the one used by the Yacht Club: A
blue cross on a white field. To avoid confusion between civil and naval vessels,
the Yacht Club flag was modified by adding a white inner cross. This flag was first
hoisted 18 May 1918. Regulations officially approving the flag were issued 11 February
1919. The flag is still in use. The proportions are 55:90 (20-6-3-6-20 : 25-6-3-6-50).
The arms of the [historical] provinces are found in the
upper hoist quarter (these arms can be found at
http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/vaakeng.html#maak).

I think that there are several hundred different yacht
club badges authorized to be used on a yacht club ensign. For example, my birth
town Kokkola (35 500 inhabitants) has at least three yacht clubs and each of them
has their own yacht club ensign.

The badges are not changed very often. E.g. Nyländska
Jaktklubben uses the same badge that was given them by the Russian Emperor in the
late 19th Century (or early 20th Century, I don't remember). All badges can be found
at Finnish National Archives.

All badges have to be approved by Finnish National
Archives and that selection process is very strict. I don't believe that yacht clubs
have to meet any special requirements but the boats flying the yacht ensign have
to be registered and they must fulfill some safety requirements.

If you own a boat that does not qualify to fly a yacht
ensign but you are member of some yacht club you may use yacht
owner's pennant which is the yacht ensign in triangular form (of course you
need the Finnish national ensign in this case, because this
pennant cannot replace national ensign). Ossi Raivio, 2 and 3 September 2001

Further yacht club ensigns and pennants

Jury ensign

by Ossi Raivio

Same ensign as the yacht club ensign but with a red
stripe along the lower edge.

This ensign is not to be used instead of the national
flag. Ossi Raivio, 28 August 2001

Honorary member's ensign

by Ossi Raivio

Similar to jury ensign but the stripe is blue, not
red.

This ensign is not to be used instead of the national
flag. Ossi Raivio, 28 August 2001

Pennant of yacht club commodore

by Željko Heimer

Exact size and shape of the pennants is not specified
in the law. The text just says "two-tongued pennant tapering to the fly".

The "yacht commodore" is just name for the chair-person
of the club. Each club has its own commodore and vice-commodore pennants. So, several
hundreds of these too. Ossi Raivio, 28 August and 2 September 2001

Pennant of yacht club vice commodore

by Ossi Raivio

Yacht owner's pennant

by Jose C. Alegria

The boats flying the yacht ensign have to be registered
and they must fulfill some safety requirements. If you own a boat that does not
qualify to fly a yacht ensign but you are member of some yacht club you may use
this yacht owner's pennant which is the yacht ensign in triangular form (of course
you need the Finnish national ensign in this case, because
this pennant cannot replace national ensign). Ossi Raivio, 3 September 2001

The pennant is described in the "Suomen veneilyliitto"
book as: "Veneenomistajan viiri, Båtägarvimpel" [editor's note: these are the names
for this pennant in Finnish and in Swedish]. I received help to draw the lion from
Luismi Arias. Jose C. Alegria, 30 October 2001